Italy and Germany are also international "biathalon" style competition

"Did you hear the one about the Russians inviting the Americans to their tank competition?"

"No? Yea, they said, 'Tanks, but no tanks.'"

I. Russia Extends Tank-Shaped Olive Branch to U.S.

Armored vehicle jokes aside, Russian President Vladimir Putin really did invite the U.S. to participate in a friendly tank competition, which Russia dubs a "tank biathlon". The invite was extended to Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during "two-on-two" talks with their Russian counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu last Firday.

Shoigu -- Russia's Defense Minister -- repeated the invitation later at a press conference. And he announced that the Americans have reportedly agreed to participate. Russian news agency RIA Novostireports:

T-72s compete in a previous installment of the "tank biathlon." [Image Source: ITAR-TASS]

It is currently holding a third one this week, running through the 17th, in the Alabino district of Moscow. Russian news service ITAR-TASS describes these events writing:

Tank biathlon is a competition, where crews have to exercise and develop their best professional skills, such as teamwork, ability to hit the target in the shortest possible time, the skill of driving a tank. At the same time, the general timing depends not only on the speed of driving the route, but also on the obligatory hitting all the five targets and clear, without penalties, crossing various obstacles.

In the tank biathlon, every tank runs almost 20 kilometres at a maximum possible speed, while firing from all weapons the targets, which are rising in different directions and distances. On the course, a tank has to pass repeatedly a ford, fences, a rut bridge, high-speed sections and overtaking passages. At all the times, the crew remains constantly in the firing position.

Fighting vehicle enthusiasts may be disappointed to find out that Russia is only using its older T-72 tanks in the competition. The T-72 has been largely replaced by the T-90 (orig. named the T-72BU), a more modern successor that was commissioned in 1993. The T-72 and T-90 both pack the same smoothbore 125 mm cannon for use in attacks on buildings or tank-to-tank warfare. The T-72 and T-90 are both made by UralVagonZavod "scientific industrial corp." PLC, commonly shortened to "UVZ".

The T-72's successor, the T-90 was not in the competition. [Image Soure: RIA Novosti]

This year's competition was a multinational event, but consisted solely of former Soviet states, with entrants from Russia, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in the third and final leg of the competition.

II. Tanks (a Lot)

If the Americans indeed show up in 2014, they won't be alone -- Germany and Italy were also reportedly invited.

Germany will likely use its Leopard 2 tanks -- perhaps even the latest A7+ variant, designed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Comp. KG (shortened to "KMW"), which features the Leopard 2's trademark 120 mm smoothebore cannon and improved mobility for fighting against ground troops.

Italy would likely field its Ariete tank, which was commissioned in 1995. The tank features a 120 mm smoothebore cannon. It is produced by a consortium of Fiat S.p.A.'s (BIT:F) Industrial Vehicles Corp. (IVECO) subsidiary and Finmeccanica S.p.A.'s (BIT:FNC) OTO Melara subsidiary.

The M1A2 SEP Abrams [Image Source: Inetres]

The U.S. meanwhile would field its M1A2 SEP Abrams tank, which is made by General Dynamics Corp. (GD). The M1A2 features a 120 mm smoothebore cannon and is slightly faster than the T-90 with a top cruising speed of 68 km/h (versus 65 km/h for the T-90). The SEP (standard enhancements package) variant was first produced in 2004, and is under ongoing active development.